Here are the ideas that I sent to the Negotiating team when they asked for suggestions as to changes/improvements to the contract when negotiations begin next year. Anyone else?
1. Allow trading of sequence first/last days as other airlines permit. For instance, I have a 3-day sequence to fly Mon-Wed. However, my Dr. wants to see me on Wednesday. Currently, I have to change the Dr's appt or get rid of/call in sick for the entire sequence. We should have the ability to trade/drop the first or last day of a sequence without losing the entire trip.
2. Allow trading with Open time up until 1800 of the day prior to sequence beginning. What difference should it make to the company whether sequence A or sequence B is not yet covered, or who is working the trip as long as someone is working the trip? If it is not covered at 1900, a reserve gets it anyway.
3. Make sure that ALL uncovered trips are in Open time as soon as they become uncovered. Allow f/as on availability to trade with/self-plot trips from Open Time until 1800 Central time day prior to sequence beginning. I find it odd that during the period that Open Replacement f/as can pick up trips--0500 until 1200--there never seems to be much of anything except 5 hour turns in Open Time. However, f/as on MU get 2 and 3 day trips as do the Reserves. The company denies that this is happening, but it does.
4. Get us paid something (even if it's only minimum wage) for cleaning the a/c on through flights. If nothing else it would stop the "let's make the f/as clean the plane" routings--such as the "through flights" from TPA to DFW to GDL that NEVER have any through passengers and which inbound crews to DFW rarely work on the outbound leg (or at least no one ever remembers a through passenger on that route).
5. Get Ground/Holding time automatically paid through the computer. It is ridiculous that the f/as have to manually apply for these payments when the company knows quite well when passengers are on the a/c and there are delays for which the f/as should be paid.
6. Get flight pay for sitting around the airport when a first flight of the day is cancelled/delayed and the situation was known well before the crew left the layover hotel or left home for sign-in on the first day (let's say 1 hour prior to sign-in). It is unfair of the company to allow a crew to leave the hotel on time after a short layover then have to sit around the airport for 2 or more hours because of a known weather/ATC/maintenance issue. (If nothing else, the crew might get more rest at the hotel.)
7. Financial penalty--such as, flight pay from time of call--for Crew Scheduling calling reserves in the middle of the night during 12-hour mandatory rest (the company does not need a HISEND requesting uninterrupted rest for something that is contractual). It would also stop f/as having to fight with scheduling to have missed trips removed when f/a knows contract and refuses to answer phone during rest period (has happened to me). This penalty should also apply in situations where Scheduling calls in the middle of the night to assign a trip that does not even sign in until after 0800.
8. Corollary to #7: Two-hour call out time should begin at the END of the 12-hour mandatory rest period. It is not a 12-hour rest period if a reserve can be assigned a sequence that signs in or in some cases DEPARTS at 12:01 from end of last sequence.
9. Flight attendants who do not fly at least 35 hours every month should lose seniority unless they are on a documented medical/educational/family leave or special assignment for the company or the union.
10. Flight attendants who do not fly 35 hours/month for 2 or more consecutive months (except for reasons noted in #9) should lose all travel benefits until they have once again flown 35 hours/month for 2 or more months--i.e., loss of travel benefits for a minimum of 2 months.
11. Flight attendants who put their name on a domestic transfer list should be required to accept transfer--regular or mutual--if offered, with a 6-month lock-in--just like International proffers.
12. Alternative to #11: Flight attendants who refuse a domestic mutual transfer should not be allowed to put their name on the transfer list for the refused base for a minimum of 12 months from date of refusal. (There was a f/a at DFW who put her name on the transfer list to another base. There are a large number of f/as at that base on the transfer list to DFW. Every time that f/a's name came up for mutual transfer, she would refuse the transfer. She would then turn right around and put her name back on the transfer list to that base. She finally accepted a "regular" transfer to that base causing one person from that base to lose the opportunity to transfer to DFW. Don't ask. I haven't a clue as to her motivation for those actions. I just know from a friend that it happened.)
13. Pay--again, even minimum wage--for airport sit time greater than 1 hour. This month at SLT we have a 2-day sequence on our bidsheet that is worth 12.10--no P&C. It has 8 hours and 55 minutes of airport sit time in those two days.
I am well aware that a number of these, if not all, will be ignored either by the negotiating committee or the company or both. I just couldn't resist sending them in anyway--particularly #9 and #10.
Anyone else send any suggestions to the committee? If not, don't just complain. E-mail your suggestions to '[email protected]'.
1. Allow trading of sequence first/last days as other airlines permit. For instance, I have a 3-day sequence to fly Mon-Wed. However, my Dr. wants to see me on Wednesday. Currently, I have to change the Dr's appt or get rid of/call in sick for the entire sequence. We should have the ability to trade/drop the first or last day of a sequence without losing the entire trip.
2. Allow trading with Open time up until 1800 of the day prior to sequence beginning. What difference should it make to the company whether sequence A or sequence B is not yet covered, or who is working the trip as long as someone is working the trip? If it is not covered at 1900, a reserve gets it anyway.
3. Make sure that ALL uncovered trips are in Open time as soon as they become uncovered. Allow f/as on availability to trade with/self-plot trips from Open Time until 1800 Central time day prior to sequence beginning. I find it odd that during the period that Open Replacement f/as can pick up trips--0500 until 1200--there never seems to be much of anything except 5 hour turns in Open Time. However, f/as on MU get 2 and 3 day trips as do the Reserves. The company denies that this is happening, but it does.
4. Get us paid something (even if it's only minimum wage) for cleaning the a/c on through flights. If nothing else it would stop the "let's make the f/as clean the plane" routings--such as the "through flights" from TPA to DFW to GDL that NEVER have any through passengers and which inbound crews to DFW rarely work on the outbound leg (or at least no one ever remembers a through passenger on that route).
5. Get Ground/Holding time automatically paid through the computer. It is ridiculous that the f/as have to manually apply for these payments when the company knows quite well when passengers are on the a/c and there are delays for which the f/as should be paid.
6. Get flight pay for sitting around the airport when a first flight of the day is cancelled/delayed and the situation was known well before the crew left the layover hotel or left home for sign-in on the first day (let's say 1 hour prior to sign-in). It is unfair of the company to allow a crew to leave the hotel on time after a short layover then have to sit around the airport for 2 or more hours because of a known weather/ATC/maintenance issue. (If nothing else, the crew might get more rest at the hotel.)
7. Financial penalty--such as, flight pay from time of call--for Crew Scheduling calling reserves in the middle of the night during 12-hour mandatory rest (the company does not need a HISEND requesting uninterrupted rest for something that is contractual). It would also stop f/as having to fight with scheduling to have missed trips removed when f/a knows contract and refuses to answer phone during rest period (has happened to me). This penalty should also apply in situations where Scheduling calls in the middle of the night to assign a trip that does not even sign in until after 0800.
8. Corollary to #7: Two-hour call out time should begin at the END of the 12-hour mandatory rest period. It is not a 12-hour rest period if a reserve can be assigned a sequence that signs in or in some cases DEPARTS at 12:01 from end of last sequence.
9. Flight attendants who do not fly at least 35 hours every month should lose seniority unless they are on a documented medical/educational/family leave or special assignment for the company or the union.
10. Flight attendants who do not fly 35 hours/month for 2 or more consecutive months (except for reasons noted in #9) should lose all travel benefits until they have once again flown 35 hours/month for 2 or more months--i.e., loss of travel benefits for a minimum of 2 months.
11. Flight attendants who put their name on a domestic transfer list should be required to accept transfer--regular or mutual--if offered, with a 6-month lock-in--just like International proffers.
12. Alternative to #11: Flight attendants who refuse a domestic mutual transfer should not be allowed to put their name on the transfer list for the refused base for a minimum of 12 months from date of refusal. (There was a f/a at DFW who put her name on the transfer list to another base. There are a large number of f/as at that base on the transfer list to DFW. Every time that f/a's name came up for mutual transfer, she would refuse the transfer. She would then turn right around and put her name back on the transfer list to that base. She finally accepted a "regular" transfer to that base causing one person from that base to lose the opportunity to transfer to DFW. Don't ask. I haven't a clue as to her motivation for those actions. I just know from a friend that it happened.)
13. Pay--again, even minimum wage--for airport sit time greater than 1 hour. This month at SLT we have a 2-day sequence on our bidsheet that is worth 12.10--no P&C. It has 8 hours and 55 minutes of airport sit time in those two days.
I am well aware that a number of these, if not all, will be ignored either by the negotiating committee or the company or both. I just couldn't resist sending them in anyway--particularly #9 and #10.
Anyone else send any suggestions to the committee? If not, don't just complain. E-mail your suggestions to '[email protected]'.
